Between Blood and Water
by it's a placeholder
Summary: He may not be his real father, but he's a better parent than she's ever tried to be.


**So I was staring at screen and then this happened. I don't even know. Also, my brain has decided that Catherine Goode is a sociopath and now it is a headcanon. **

..

Sundays are always Joe-and-Zach days. It's practically become a ritual for them to coop themselves up in one of the libraries in the house while Joe teaches him everything from basic Spanish, to encryption, to how to successfully catch someone when they're lying. Or sometimes they just sit and play card games, or Joe will read to him or they'll just sit and stare at each other until one of them blinks.

It never really matters what they're doing once they're doing it together.

On this particular Sunday however, before he can even reach up to get Jane Eyre – because for a very intellectually advanced five year old, Zach's current taste in books strangely resembles that of a teenaged girl or a middle-aged woman (he hasn't decided if he should be worried or not yet) they're interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Which is relatively strange because no one bothers with them since Sunday is everyone's day off.

In fact, there's only one person he can think of who might possibly come to see them and he's overcome with a sense of dread when the door opens and his suspicions are confirmed.

"Joe," she calls softly. Her voice is ice and daggers wrapped up in a layer of malice disguised as worry and care.

He doesn't jump – he can't afford to show weakness – but he feels his back straighten and his shoulders tense and all he wants to do is run as far from her as possible. The little boy at his legs looks up at him with wide brown eyes that are the same shade as his mother's but look nothing at all like hers. He rests a palm on top his head and ruffles the dark waves gently and sends him a reassuring smile.

"What do you want Catherine?" he asks making sure to keep his voice neutral. He keeps his eyes on Zach who is now grasping his pants leg tightly in his little hand, eyebrows scrunched together as he tries to figure out why Joe's voice has suddenly gone cold when it's usually all soft and warm and fond.

"What, can't a mother come see her son with no ulterior motive?" Catherine asks innocently and to anyone else she might sound a little hurt but Joe knows her – the real her and he knows that yes, there is an ulterior motive because that's the only way Catherine works. Everyone is a pawn in her game, a way to get what she wants and yes, that includes her own son.

"Why are you here Catherine?" he asks again calmly.

"I just want my son Joe," she replies easily. He turns to face her and is met with a small smile which he knows isn't the least genuine.

"Why?" he spits out before he can think about it because she never wants Zach, not really. She tolerates him more than everyone else but that's not really a stretch for her in terms of being a good mother. But the thing is she's not a horrible mother either. She feeds him, and buys him clothes and toys and puts a roof over his head but _that's just it_; she doesn't make him food – in fact ninety percent of the time he's the one who's making him food – she doesn't take him shopping with her, she doesn't play with him and she might have given him a house but she's never given him a _home_.

And that's the worst part is, he thinks, is that she doesn't actually love her son; which only serves to make him see red while the anger slip into his veins and his stomach boils with rage and he wants to _hurt _her because she's his _mother_. She's supposed to love him unconditionally no matter what, but Catherine – Catherine, he knows is completely incapable of love.

"Because," she replies succinctly. The look she levels him pierces straight through him with a type of fear that only she can instil in people.

"Plus, the last time I checked, Zachary was my son." The _'not yours'_ goes unsaid but it's understood and the implication hangs heavy in the air between them. "I don't need to give you a reason for why I want to see my son Joseph."

Zach's unusually quiet from where he's standing almost behind Joe's legs, watching the interaction with sharp, knowing eyes that glisten with understanding and it _kills_ him, because he's too young. He's too young to be seeing this and he's far too young to even understand these types of interactions but he does and nothing will change that.

Joe remains quiet because if he opens his mouth whatever ends up coming out will undoubtedly end up scarring Zach even more than he already is. Catherine sends him a smug little smirk and beckons Zach over to her, her face twisting into a frown when Zach only burrows closer to Joe, his hands twisting tighter into his pants, refusing to let go.

"Zach," she calls softly but there's an underlying warning in her tone. He cups the back of Zach's head with his hand, making Zach look up at him with wide, uncertain eyes. He nods his head towards the door and he receives a small head-shake in return.

"Zach," he sighs, "go."

And the thing is, Zach always listens to him because at the end of the day, he's the closet thing the boy has to a_ real_ parent and that means that he does what he tells him to.

It scares him sometimes, how much trust he places in him and how blindly he does it, because the life Zach was born into ensures that he learns to never trust anyone. In fact, it's already started in the way he avoids anyone who comes in close contact with him, preferring to put a good distance between them while eyeing them warily. But Joe, he trusts to keep him safe, and warm and happy.

So slowly Zach steps away from him, and takes small hesitant steps towards his mother who grins at him in what he's sure is meant to be reassuring but only leaves him feel uneasy.

"There's a good boy," she coos and takes his hand in hers gently while patting him on the head with the other.

"Where are we going?" Zach asks so softly that it almost comes out in a whisper. It always unnerves him when he sees Zach like this, because with him Zach is always animated and lively with mischievous grins and a never-ending curiosity streak. And when he's with _her_ – he's like a shadow of himself, small and timid and withdrawn.

"Oh, we're just going to do a little business honey," she says cheerfully but there's a gleam in her eyes when she sneaks a look at Joe but before he can _sayshoutthreaten_ her, she's already disappeared with Zach and it's all he can do to stay where he is and not chase after them. Catherine doesn't like being chased and he's sure that following them will only end badly and he can't risk that, not now.

So he sits and waits and hopes and prays to whatever higher being that will listen that she brings him back safe and unharmed or at least alive because with Catherine he never knows.


End file.
